The Taboor is a tribe-like group of travellers who roam wastelands, steppes, mountains of their planet chaotic planet. Possibly the descendants of some post-apocalyptic survivors (the true nature of the cataclysm forgotten a long time ago, only folk tales and legends give an insight into their ancestry), they often engage in playful slaughter of mutated lifeforms and various visitors from far-away galaxies/dimensions.

Hierarchy and Culture

The Taboor hierarchy pyramid starts at the top with their chieftain-warlord – the Plunderbuss - who is elected from the Bountyboons, or well-off members of the tribe (who usually lead military units during war-time and get their name from all the bounty they’ve collected during various battles and expeditions) soon after the death of the previous Plunderbuss. The Bountyboons decide on the format of the election procedure (lately, a massive free-for-all with boom-spears has been in fashion), and the last man standing becomes the new chief.The Plunderbuss has absolute power and respect within the Taboor, and it is he who decides on all their collective actions: what direction to go, when to stop and set-up camp, when to go off again, when to attack (there is no “whether to attack”), etc.

Then there are the Bountyboons. These are members of the Taboor who, through their feats of insane bravery, bribes, and LOADS of luck, have managed to survive a few skirmishes and gain the respect of other Taboorians. They usually lead military units into battle (each warrior picks the Bountyboon for whom he wants to fight, so being a generous leader often pays off during wartime). During most battles and major celebrations or ceremonies, the Bountyboons strap large trophy racks to their backs. These take the form of long poles decorated with ornaments at the top, to which the Bountyboon will mainly attach enemy body parts, though sometimes valuable artefacts are also displayed to show off wealth and high status. It is also customary among these wackos to sport an unusual hairstyle or piece of headwear in order to distinguish themselves from common folk.

Regular Taboorians take on various jobs when not at war. Most respected professions include blacksmiths, who excel at making knives and other blades from various mixtures of metal alloys, and electricians, who have mastered the art of harnessing and guiding electric power for all kinds of machinery. The Taboorians have a very light-hearted approach to life... and death. It is thought that this mindset has developed as a coping mechanism which allows maintaining some level of sanity – if it can be described as such - in a world where you’re happily chopping up a mutated marsh troll one minute, and are being ripped apart by a twisting dimension clash the next. As a consequence, fallen comrades are often celebrated with little more than a hearty “What a classy way to go that was!” and a considerable gulp of a fine beverage; while a permanent manic grin is a common trait in Taboor society.

This means that fear is often pushed aside, allowing improbable feats of bravery and stupidity in all aspects of daily life, most noticeably during battles.

Origins and Folklore

The ancestry of the Taboor is little known – word of mouth tales find it hard to spread in a society where surviving your childhood is considered a great success, and living to see the next generation of Taboorians grow up is almost unheard of.However, most members of the tribe maintain that their ancestors lived in a mythical land called Evyannt, an improbable place composed of only three, perfectly ordered dimensions. Due to a giant cataclysm of unknown origin and nature, the land was caught in a reality storm, where different realms and dimensions collided, twisted, cracked and swirled, giving rise to the world which the Taboor presently roams. The reality storm - like any other self-respecting natural event - eventually died down a bit, but time cracks, realm holes and dimension twisters are still commonplace.

Legends and mythical tales are often told between Taboorians, though naturally, it is impossible to tell the extent to which they’re true - after all, who’s to say that a giant winged rainbow-shrimp hadn’t popped in through an antimatter vortex to devour Bountyboon Govor while he was happily doing his business behind some bushes?

Taboor Technology

The Taboor use wood, steel and various other scraps that they find to manufacture tools and relatively simple electrical machinery. However, the concept of combustion engines still eludes their engineers, which means that most of their vehicles have to be pulled by some sort of living creature. Wood, dried fecal debris and other combustibles are burned in crude stoves for heating, though campfires are used during warmer seasons. Pieces of coloured glass are often polished and wire or leather strips attached to form awesome-looking spectacles (a must-have for any self-respecting Bountyboon).

Weaponry

Until some time ago (time is very relative in the Taboor’s realm), the Taboorians mainly used blades and bows as weapons, though occasionally spring loaded harpoon launchers and toxic beastly secretions were utilised to good effect.However, all that changed when The Chemist joined the Taboor. Ever since then, his explosive mixtures have played a central part in the tribe’s war efforts.

The signature weapon of Taboor warriors has become the boom-spear. It usually consists of a regular wood or metal alloy shaft, which ends with a package containing explosive material. A steel spearhead is mounted to the explosive with coils and springs, so that upon a sufficient head-on impact the springs contract, the back end of the blade drives into the explosive container, breaking a safety seal and thus detonating the package.

The current Plunderbuss of the Taboor decided to ditch his boom-spear (he now usually only wields it during various ceremonies) in favour of a “hand-cannon” that he saw used by some visitors from outer space. His engineers toiled away for a long time, but finally came up with the first Taboorian firearm: a hand-gun with a long, thick metal barrel of a huge calibre, which allows the Plunderbuss to load it with all sorts of steel shrapnel, stones or whatever else happens to be lying around. The exact technology and mechanisms used are a well-kept secret, but it is thought that something similar to a wheel-lock has been applied.

The Chemist

The Chemist is a great and respected authority – some say even the Plunderbuss fears him - partly due to his unmatched knowledge of herbalism and poisons, but mostly because of his prowess in producing explosives. In a society where firearms are almost non-existent, primitive grenade-like projectiles – and other explosive packages of many shapes and sizes – have proved to be the most deadly (if a little unreliable) of weapons. He is also a shaman of sorts: offer the right amount of gold, and he can cure you of many ailments using his mysterious substances; for the right price, he can supply a Bountyboon’s warriors with enough alcoholic beverage to last throughout even the longest of war campaigns. No-one knows where The Chemist came from, or indeed, when – he certainly wasn’t born into the tribe, and it is therefore suspected that he just hopped dimensions and joined the Taboor unnoticed somewhere along the way.

Photos

Plunderbuss Ostrogniev with his weapons of choice: a kukri-machete and a MASSIVE gun. He denies the rumours that he's compensating for the lack of a MASSIVE gun elsewhere...

The Plunderbuss' trophy rack. Some peach-skinned loser claimed he could do magic... so he got executed.

The Plunderbuss would obviously be slowed down by his various bits and pieces, so he has a young squire - Nievsza - who carries his boom-spear and trophy rack.

The Chemist. That's about as much as we know about him.

Bountyboon Vilkomir, and his infantry. All equipped with boom-spears and a knives.

I get some of the more awesome pieces (like the trench coat, the top hat and the mohawk hairpieces) from an online store called FireStar Toys, which sells custom stuff from BrickForge, BrickArms, BrickTW, and others. The top hat is by something called "Amazing Armory" - from a quick google search, it seems that Amazing Armory pieces are made by someone called Hazel, who is probably based somewhere in southeast Asia... so it's all very mysterious, but as soon as I saw saw that hat, I HAD to have it